Panda Express

This Panda Express is god awful. I have had Panda elsewhere and I know what it should taste like. The orange chicken should not be chewy and the rice should not feel microwaved. They did redo my order after complaining but it did no justice. Honestly it don’t see how they are passing their inspections from corporate. I feel bad for the other students like myself who wasted their Flexdine funds here.
I just saw a girl eating food from this location at my math review session and the beef looked so uncooked compared to how it would look from other locations.

The key to this Panda Expresses’ success = location and convenience! For starters, I am a sucker for Chinese food! Orange chicken & a wonton make me one happy girl!
Reasons why my friends & I go to this location: it’s on campus & I am in this building (Coffman Memorial Union aka the U of M’s student center) about 4 days a week — I love Chinese food — When you see a spicy label next to the name of your entrée IT’S ACTUALLY SPICY ;which is a very rare thing in MN!!! Also, if you have Flex Dine (a debit card like system linked or a system that can be linked to a student’s meal plan) you can use your Flex Dine $ here! Flex Dine gives students a chance to take a break from their blah blah — mystery meat cafeteria food every once in a while! Last but not least, the Beijing Beef is nummy nom nom num nu nu yes!
Reasons why I don’t like going to this location: Beyond over priced for the quality & amount of food you get! The portions are often inconsistent based on the student worker (run by University Dining Services UDS) you happen to get. If you come during the lunch or dinner rush you can expect a long line & to have them happen to run out of orange chicken by the time it’s your turn to place an order! The cream cheese Rangoon’s are expensive, small & are often dried out — kind of a bummer when you pay $ 2.00 for 3 disappointing Rangoon’s. Oooh and the best let down, when they get towards the last of the Orange Chicken; & are waiting on the next batch that will be ready in 3 minutes, you get jipped with a smaller portion than one would normally get!
When you ask for a Panda Bowl to go, they often overflow the bowl with beyond dried fried rice or chow mein– when they get to adding the actual entrée — there is so little room that your bowl is overflowing and you are unable to put the lid on the to go bowl to close!
Maybe you can tell that I have eaten at this location a lot, I still plan to eat here but… only based on the location, convenience & the fact that I am a sucker for Chinese food! If you have time and a couple more dollars in your «noodle in a cup budget»; I highly suggest checking out Shuang Cheng in Dinkytown (however you really can’t compare the two, especially because Panda is fast casual and Shuang Cheng is a sit down restaurant).
Open M-​F. Closes at 4PM on Fridays. Food Court setting.